Concept and creative process
‘Assignment’ was a weekly news and current affairs series featuring reports from BBC correspondents at home and around the world. The series opening title sequence was entirely filmed using stop-motion model animation by 3 Peach Animation. See below the designer's storyboard of the sequence. There was no CGI, no live action filming or compositing involved in the shoot at all. Even the sparkler effect as the trunk opened and the subsequent neon horseman were double exposed on the master negative.
Tim Goodchild took as a central motif for his sequence a large, well-travelled cabin trunk which was set in an attic room filled with eclectic travel trophies. The lid of the trunk springs open like Pandora’s box to allow a series of exotic figures to fly out, supported on wires above the set and expertly choreographed and manipulated by the animators. The careering motion of the figures around the room was hand animated frame by frame, likewise their dive back into the trunk just before the lid slams shut again. A mix to a separate animated panning shot onto a leather address label containing the programme title adds the finishing touch to an imaginative creative concept.
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Assignment storyboard
Assignment storyboard